drug policy
The party drug becomes medicine: Australia approves ecstasy for psychiatric purposes
Ecstasy is actually known as a party drug, but is also said to be used in psychiatric treatments in Australia in the future
© Makhbubakhon Ismatova / Imago Images
Ecstasy and hallucinogenic mushrooms are to be prescribed in Australia in the future for mental illnesses. However, there are strict regulations for the use of the active ingredients MDMA and psilocybin.
Ecstasy and hallucinogenic mushrooms – also known as magic mushrooms – have had a reputation as dangerous party drugs for decades. Certainly not without reason, but in recent years it has become increasingly apparent that the substances can also be used sensibly for medical purposes.
Australia has therefore announced as the first country in the world to release the active ingredients MDMA and psilocybin contained in the drugs for use in psychiatric treatments. Psychiatrists with special authorization should be able to prescribe them from July this year. This was announced by the national regulatory authority for therapeutic agents. There is sufficient scientific evidence for possible positive effects in certain patients, the authority justified the decision.
Ecstasy is said to help with mental illness
MDMA should therefore be prescribed as a remedy for post-traumatic stress disorders, and psilocybin should be used for therapy-resistant depression. The use of both substances should only be permitted to a very limited extent. Doctors like emergency medicine lecturer David Caldicott welcome the change: According to the Guardian, he sees it as a “very welcome step after years of demonization”.
Caldicott said it is “absolutely clear” that the controlled use of MDMA and psilocybin could have “dramatic effects on conditions not considered amenable to current treatment.” “In addition to a clear and evolving therapeutic benefit, it also offers a chance to make up for decades of missed opportunities to delve into the inner workings of the human mind, so long abandoned as part of an ill-conceived, ideological ‘war on drugs'” , according to the doctor. However, critics of the decision call for further research on the topic.
Psilocybin occurs naturally in more than 200 species of mushrooms and has been used medicinally since ancient times. MDMA was first synthesized in 1912 by the German pharmaceutical company Merck and gained worldwide fame in pill form as the party drug ecstasy.
Sources: Therapeutic Goods Administration / “Guardians” / German wave